Destabilization of Long‐Lived Hadean Protocrust and the Onset of Pervasive 
Hydrous Melting at 3.8 Ga

Drabon, Nadja; Byerly, Benjamin L.; Byerly, Gary R.; Wooden, Joseph L.; Wiedenbeck, Michael; Valley, John W.; Kitajima, Kouki; Bauer, Ann M.; Lowe, Donald R.

doi:10.1029/2021AV000520

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Destabilization of Long‐Lived Hadean Protocrust and the Onset of Pervasive Hydrous Melting at 3.8 Ga

Authors

Drabon, Nadja
External Organizations;
GFZ SIMS Publications, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Byerly, Benjamin L.
External Organizations;
GFZ SIMS Publications, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Byerly, Gary R.
External Organizations;
GFZ SIMS Publications, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Wooden, Joseph L.
External Organizations;
GFZ SIMS Publications, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

/persons/resource/michawi

Wiedenbeck, Michael
3.1 Inorganic and Isotope Geochemistry, 3.0 Geochemistry, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;
GFZ SIMS Publications, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Valley, John W.
External Organizations;
GFZ SIMS Publications, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Kitajima, Kouki
External Organizations;
GFZ SIMS Publications, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Bauer, Ann M.
External Organizations;
GFZ SIMS Publications, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Lowe, Donald R.
External Organizations;
GFZ SIMS Publications, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

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Citation

Drabon, N., Byerly, B. L., Byerly, G. R., Wooden, J. L., Wiedenbeck, M., Valley, J. W., Kitajima, K., Bauer, A. M., Lowe, D. R. (2022): Destabilization of Long‐Lived Hadean Protocrust and the Onset of Pervasive Hydrous Melting at 3.8 Ga. - AGU Advances, 3, 2, e2021AV000520.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021AV000520

Cite as: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5011178

Abstract

The nature of Earth's earliest crust and crustal processes remain unresolved questions in Precambrian geology. While some hypotheses suggest that plate tectonics began in the Hadean, others suggest that the Hadean was characterized by long-lived protocrust and an absence of significant plate tectonic processes. Recently proposed trace-element proxies for the tectono-magmatic settings in which zircons formed are a relatively novel tool to understand crustal processes in the past. Here, we present high-spatial resolution zircon trace and rare earth element geochemical data along with Hf and O isotope data of a new location with Hadean materials, 4.1–3.3 Ga detrital zircons from the 3.31 Ga Green Sandstone Bed, Barberton Greenstone Belt. Together, the hafnium isotope and trace element geochemistry of the detrital zircons record a major transition in crustal processes. Zircons older than 3.8 Ga show evidence for isolated, long-lived protocrust derived by reworking of relatively undepleted mantle sources with limited remelting of surface-altered material. After 3.8 Ga, Hf isotopic evidence for this protocrust is muted while relatively juvenile source components for the zircon's parental magmas and flux-like melting signatures become more prominent. This shift mirrors changes in Hf isotopes and trace element geochemistry in other Archean terranes between ∼3.8 and 3.6 Ga and supports the notion that the global onset of pervasive crustal instability and recycling—A possible sign for mobile-lid tectonics—Occurred in that time period.